March 4, 2024 • 18 mins
How's business?
If your business could do with a bit of a boost, then this episode will let you in on a secret that will help you increase your profits. And, it's probably not what you think!
With the cost of living on the rise and new clients harder to come by than ever before, we're sharing a simple, inexpensive and fool-proof way to help your business thrive.
This episode is full of of actionable tactics, stories and strategies that will rekindle your business spark and help you make more money in the process. Join us, transform your client retention game and turn your business into a profit-generating powerhouse.
This episode is brought to you by Become A Business Money Magnet - Simple habits to manage your money and supercharge your profits!
Want 30 Ways to Save Money in your Business? Download the guide here.
Need a business finance coach or want to get your pricing sorted? Book a Strategy Call NOW.
Join the conversation
Connect with Justine:
Instagram
Facebook
LinkedIn
Website
Discover the Secrets of Successful Business Facebook page
Follow Justine on Instagram @flossifiles or @secretsofsuccessfulbusiness
Host: Justine McLean – Flossi Creative
Producer: Leah Stanistreet – Snappystre...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast, your go-tosource for business tips, tricks
and proven strategies that willhelp you create a streamlined
and profitable business.
We chat to the best minds inbusiness about their journey.
It's my business and I'll do itmy way, how they started,
rather than going harder to getmore focus on growing more with
(00:25):
what you have.
What they learned along the way.
How long are you going to givethis?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What compromises are you going to make?
Just because you can do itdoesn't mean that you should do
it.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
It's really important to remember that it's a long
game and, of course, we'll askthem for their secret source for
creating a successful business.
If you're not feeling you'renot doing it right, you should
be struggling at times.
That is part of the journey.
Join us as we take a sneak peekbehind the curtain, talk
solutions for those businesspain points, working smarter,
not harder, mindset and thechallenges of bidding it all in
(00:57):
with the demands of today's busylife style.
If you're a business owner,side hustler or just starting
your business journey, thispodcast is for you.
Now here's your host, businesscoach and content creator,
justine McLean from FawcayCreative.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hello and thanks for joining me on the podcast today.
In case we haven't met, I'mJustine, a small business owner
on a mission to uncover andshare the secrets of creating
and running a profitable,sustainable and successful
business.
I've been in business for over20 years now and I get to use
all that I've learned along theway to help other women in
business reduce the overwhelm,gain visibility around their
(01:37):
numbers, charge what they'reworth and make more money.
It's about designing a life youlove that fits into your
definition of success.
So if I can help you create theprofitable business you deserve
, please reach out Now withoutfurther ado.
Let's dive into today's episode.
Hi there and welcome to thepodcast Now.
(02:01):
If you've been listening for awhile, you'll know that I am all
about creating profitable andsustainable businesses, and to
do that, there's a number ofthings that you need to put into
place, from your definition ofwhat your success journey is to
your pricing, keeping an eye onyour expenses and everything in
(02:21):
between.
But with business being a bitho hum in 2024, particularly for
a lot of service providers thatI've been talking to I thought
in today's episode I would sharewith you how it's possible to
increase your business profit by25%.
And it's not just me making upnumbers here.
There was actually a study outof Bain and Co and Harvard
(02:43):
University a few years ago thatshows that an increase in
customer retention by only 5%can actually lead to profit
growth of between 25 and 95%over a certain period of time.
Yes, it was specific, but alittle bit vague.
Now, if I surveyed a room fullof business owners and I asked
(03:05):
them for the fastest way toincrease their revenue and maybe
unlock their earning potentialor become more profitable, what
do you think they would choose?
What would you choose?
Would it be engaging a newclient, pulling all the new
people or working on repeatclients that you already had in
your business ecosystem?
Now, I'm not sure what youanswered, but when I asked this
(03:28):
exact question not long agoduring a talk to a very large
group of business owners, themost popular answer was by far
option A getting new clients.
These, the people in thisaudience, were so determined
that this is what they needed todo.
When I asked for a show ofhands about how they would go
about doing it, there waseverything from running Facebook
(03:50):
ads to increasing the socialmedia presence, to having a sale
, having multiple discounts hereand there, but there were only
a handful of people who saidthat they would actually reach
out to their old clients,because the reality is that most
business owners think thatgetting new clients through the
door is the fastest way to makemore money, and while I
(04:13):
absolutely know that there are alot of pluses when a new client
shows up and comes into yourbusiness ecosystem, I really
believe that the key to creatinga sustainable business is all
in the understanding of how toretain and re-engage your former
or existing clients.
Why is that?
For a start, retaining orengaging a former client will
(04:36):
cost you way less time and wayless money than bringing in
someone new, and you certainlydon't have to think about
Facebook ads or discounting,which is a massive relief for me
.
But if you've been in businessfor a while, you've probably
also heard about somethingcalled the 80-20 rule.
It's also known as the Paretoprinciple and the 80-20 rule.
(04:56):
We can apply that to lots ofdifferent aspects of business,
but in a nutshell, it assertsthat 80% of all outcomes or
outputs in your business couldbe in your life as well result
from 20% of all causes or inputs.
In other words, prioritisingthe 20%, whether that's getting
new customers, retaining oldcustomers or some other part of
(05:19):
your business will always giveyou the best results.
And more recently, dan Sullivanin his book 10 times is easier
than two times, talks about asimilar concept in my opinion.
He says that instead ofthinking you need to do 10 times
the work to get 10 times thereward, the best way to get a 10
times return in your businessis to first focus on your four
(05:44):
most important time freedoms, sohe identifies those as time,
money, relationships and purpose.
And then, as you embrace theunderstanding that your time is
actually 10 times more valuablethan anything else, you start to
view everything else under thatlens.
So if we tie that back to the80-20 rule, it means that you'll
(06:06):
spend 80% of your time yourmost valuable resource working
to look after the top 20% ofyour clients with a view to
retaining them and increasingthe lifetime value they bring to
your business.
And if you want to think of itin even more simpler terms and
you think of every 100 customersthat you have, your aim is
(06:28):
really just to keep and nurturethe top 20, the best 20
customers that you have, and toactually get rid of the 80
altogether and for most businessowners, getting rid of 80
clients would send a chill downtheir spine.
80% of their revenue chill,absolutely.
But when it comes to businessprofit and when I think of the
80-20 rule, it also means that80% of your profit is likely to
(06:53):
come from 20% of your customers,and certainly when I do the
numbers in my business, that isabsolutely true.
It's that same 20% that keepcoming back for more, and
they're the ones where I makethe maximum profit.
So it's important to identifythat 20% and then maximize the
(07:13):
time that you work with them,and that is an absolutely easy
way to stay on the path toprofit and really to create a
sustainable business.
And if you relate that back toa cost per lead to getting
someone new in your business, itactually makes a lot of sense
because by retaining somebodyyou already have, there's no
outlay on marketing, onadvertising, the time and money
(07:34):
that it takes to do that.
Fewer resources are used to setup and onboard an old client
because they're already in thesystem, they know what it's like
to work with you, they know theexchange they need to make to
get their project going andyou're more likely to complete
the work faster too, because, asthe service provider, you're
going to know exactly what theywant and there'll be less back
(07:56):
and forth asking questions, andso, essentially, you can provide
them with what they need withless corrections required and in
a faster timeframe too.
So it's maximizing your time,your energy and your profit in
the process.
But regardless of whether youchoose to do that or not, simply
looking at the retention ratein your business so the number
(08:18):
of clients that you manage tokeep in your ecosystem and
according to Bain and Co andHarvard Business School,
increasing that by just 5% youcan increase your overall profit
, and they say between 25 and95%.
I guess it depends on the sortof business you have.
So how do you go about it?
The first thing you need toknow is your current retention
(08:42):
rate, so that way you havesomething to aim for, because
there's no point shooting toincrease something by 5% if you
don't know what the startingnumber is, and we're looking for
that starting number.
So how many of the currentcustomers that you have, or how
many of your overall customersdo you manage to retain?
What's the number, what's thepercentage?
And then we're just looking toincrease that rate by 5%.
(09:05):
So if we're talking about 100clients, we're looking to retain
five of them.
Five additional clients.
If we're looking at the 20,we're looking to increase that
by just one customer, and then,in my opinion, the next best
thing to do is to identify yourbest customers.
So it could be your top 20, itmight be your top 30, but look
(09:28):
at those and think about okay,if I'm not retaining them at the
moment, or I could potentiallyget more work out of them, how
am I able to do that?
And while this idea seemspretty straightforward, the
reality can be a little morecomplex, and that's largely
because, just like us, ourcustomers are often guilty of
(09:48):
looking for the shiny next bestthing and they forget all about
us.
I know, if you've beenlistening for a while, you would
have heard me say this before.
It doesn't matter if you'veprovided the most excellent
service and have a testimonialfrom them to prove it, but if
that business over there isdoing something similar or gosh,
that person I follow onInstagram says that this person
(10:09):
over here is really good yourcustomer could be off in a flash
out of your orbit and workingwith someone else before you
even know what's happened.
Naturally, as business ownersand as humans.
If we do a good job for someone, we expect to stay on the top
of their list.
We expect our happy customersto keep coming back to us for
more at some point, whether it'simmediately or some point in
(10:31):
the future, and so human naturesays that we don't tend to chase
them.
We also don't want to be thatannoying person, and I think as
the business of business takesover, then we just forget our
old customers altogether, justtotally forget they exist, and
instead we're on the lookout forthe next new customer.
But, as I've already said,getting that new customer can be
expensive.
(10:51):
So when you put that into thecontext of the 80-20 rule, you
really have to wonder why you'dever bother chasing after
someone new when you've got allthese potential sales, all these
existing clients that mighthave forgotten about you sitting
on the table.
Don't let your customers forgetabout you.
Remind them that you're stillhere, whether you're just
following up about the workyou've just completed or maybe
(11:14):
suggesting another way that youcan work together, creating a
special VIP offer for yourpreferred clients.
Think about what it is that youcan do to keep your customers
coming back for more.
I've just tried this with acouple of my clients who were
absolutely struggling to findwork, and it was pre-Christmas
(11:34):
and we were looking at theFebruary March period and
thinking, okay, january istraditionally quiet, but
February March we've got noinquiries.
Things are looking really dire.
In each case, the clients hadstaff that they had to pay, so
they had that cost liabilitythat they could not negate.
They needed to find the moneyto pay their staff at the very
(11:55):
least, and so that was one ofthe things I suggested Go back,
have a look at your old clientlist, see who you can talk to,
see who might be interested incoming back and working with you
again.
And within two weeks, each ofthose clients had booked out
February and had started takingbookings for March.
So it is possible.
(12:15):
I have absolutely seen theproof.
But the word there, theimportant word, is ask, because
if you want to hold on to the20% of your existing clients,
those people who have been inyour ecosystem, who really love
you, who you get the most valueout of, you have to ask and you
have to keep asking.
(12:36):
And if you want to increaseyour business profits by at
least 25%, so you want to retain5% of additional clients, then
you definitely need to ask sohow do you do that you can reach
out to your clients and letthem know that you're open for
work.
If you don't tell them, how arethey going to know?
Just because you put somethingup on social media to say you've
(12:57):
got two spots left next monthdoesn't mean that they're going
to see it.
But also let them know how youcan help them because, remember,
it's all about them.
It's not about you.
Sure, you might think it's aboutyou because you've got to get
the money in the door, butessentially it's about how you
can help your client.
So suggest one thing that youcan do right now to make their
life more manageable.
(13:18):
If, for example, someone comesback to you and says, yeah, I
can't really afford that rightnow, then give them a head list.
Think about the five top thingsthat you could do for them
right now and say, look, Iunderstand that you might not
need all five, but number oneand two are really going to help
you and so I can offer you thatparticular service at this rate
(13:40):
and that might be more withinyour sort of the budget that
you've got to spend, but justsuggesting that one thing that
can make their life moremanageable right now.
That can take a bit of thatpressure off.
You would be surprised at howmany people will turn around and
say yes Now if you don't havean email list.
I talked about this in lastweek's episode.
(14:01):
If you don't have an email list, create an email list and add
your existing clients, of course, with permission.
Make sure then, once you've gotthem on the list, you nurture
them, that you have that specialemail that you send out to
those key clients, those VIPs,to let them know about the
exclusive offer, the thing thatthey would be more likely to
(14:22):
take over everybody else.
And, as I said in last week'sepisode, don't just reach out
when you're selling and needmore money, but share those tips
and strategies that really canhelp your customer at no cost to
them, because that's a reallyeasy way to stay on their radar
and also keep them as the loyal,engaged clients that they have
(14:43):
been as you go forward.
I think the thing is that yourclients need to be reminded that
you are around, and if you'renot the one who's reminding them
of the great work that you'vedone and what it is that you can
do for them, then, as I said,nobody else is going to tell
them.
And if, for some reason, theycan't use your services right
(15:06):
now, what you can do in sharingthat you are open for work is.
You can ask them to recommendyou.
They can refer you to someoneelse for free, or, if you're
inclined to you, could offerthem a referral fee as an
incentive to refer you tosomeone else.
And if that new client if theperson they've referred signs on
(15:27):
the dotted line comes on boardand takes up one of your
services, you can give them akickback 10%, 20%, totally up to
you, but that is another optiontoo.
And just a final word on askingask your happy clients for
testimonials or Google reviews,because if you don't ask, you
don't get.
And when you do get thosetestimonials, make sure you
(15:47):
store them in one place and thenyou use them in your marketing.
So, as we wrap up today'sepisode, if you want to start
increasing your profits whetherthat's by 25% to 95%, as
suggested by Bain and Co andHarvard Business School, or if
you're just after a couple ofpercent increase right now the
(16:09):
best way to do that is to retainyour existing clients and to
try and increase your retentionrate by at least 5%.
That 5% increase is going tosave you time, money and effort
on onboarding.
And that is the secret rightthere that time, money and
(16:31):
effort that you save.
That's where you're going toget that bump in your profit.
So, as you go forward and you'rethinking, how can I become more
profitable, how can I get moremoney in my business, decide who
are your 20 top clients.
Who are the people that youreally want to work with and it
doesn't just have to be the 20top clients.
(16:51):
Who are the 20% that you wouldbe happy to hold if you were
told that you needed to peerdown your business and you
needed to get rid of 80% ofeveryone you worked with, who
are the 20% that you would hold?
Make sure that 20% are thepeople that you're really
looking after and that arealready in your ecosystem, that
you are regularly working with,and if they're not, reach out to
(17:14):
them and then, when you've gotthat 20% better down, look to
start increasing.
That 5% is going to be an extrabump in profit every single
time.
So I hope today's episode hashelped you and I hope it gives
you some inspiration,particularly if your business is
a little bit flat right now,and until next time, keep living
(17:36):
your definition of success.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Thanks for listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast.
For more information on allthings business, head to
focicomau and make sure you hitsubscribe on the show so you
don't miss another new episode.
If you're enjoying the show,please give it a quick rating or
review, share it on yoursocials or with friends who
might enjoy it.
(18:00):
Catch you next time.
You're listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast, your go-tosource for business tips, tricks
and proven strategies that willhelp you create a streamlined
and profitable business.
We chat to the best minds inbusiness about their journey.
It's my business and I'll do itmy way, how they started,
rather than going harder to getmore focus on growing more with
(00:25):
what you have.
What they learned along the way.
How long are you going to givethis?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What compromises are you going to make?
Just because you can do itdoesn't mean that you should do
it.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
It's really important to remember that it's a long
game and, of course, we'll askthem for their secret source for
creating a successful business.
If you're not feeling you'renot doing it right, you should
be struggling at times.
That is part of the journey.
Join us as we take a sneak peekbehind the curtain, talk
solutions for those businesspain points, working smarter,
not harder, mindset and thechallenges of bidding it all in
(00:57):
with the demands of today's busylife style.
If you're a business owner,side hustler or just starting
your business journey, thispodcast is for you.
Now here's your host, businesscoach and content creator,
justine McLean from FawcayCreative.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hello and thanks for joining me on the podcast today.
In case we haven't met, I'mJustine, a small business owner
on a mission to uncover andshare the secrets of creating
and running a profitable,sustainable and successful
business.
I've been in business for over20 years now and I get to use
all that I've learned along theway to help other women in
business reduce the overwhelm,gain visibility around their
(01:37):
numbers, charge what they'reworth and make more money.
It's about designing a life youlove that fits into your
definition of success.
So if I can help you create theprofitable business you deserve
, please reach out Now withoutfurther ado.
Let's dive into today's episode.
Hi there and welcome to thepodcast Now.
(02:01):
If you've been listening for awhile, you'll know that I am all
about creating profitable andsustainable businesses, and to
do that, there's a number ofthings that you need to put into
place, from your definition ofwhat your success journey is to
your pricing, keeping an eye onyour expenses and everything in
(02:21):
between.
But with business being a bitho hum in 2024, particularly for
a lot of service providers thatI've been talking to I thought
in today's episode I would sharewith you how it's possible to
increase your business profit by25%.
And it's not just me making upnumbers here.
There was actually a study outof Bain and Co and Harvard
(02:43):
University a few years ago thatshows that an increase in
customer retention by only 5%can actually lead to profit
growth of between 25 and 95%over a certain period of time.
Yes, it was specific, but alittle bit vague.
Now, if I surveyed a room fullof business owners and I asked
(03:05):
them for the fastest way toincrease their revenue and maybe
unlock their earning potentialor become more profitable, what
do you think they would choose?
What would you choose?
Would it be engaging a newclient, pulling all the new
people or working on repeatclients that you already had in
your business ecosystem?
Now, I'm not sure what youanswered, but when I asked this
(03:28):
exact question not long agoduring a talk to a very large
group of business owners, themost popular answer was by far
option A getting new clients.
These, the people in thisaudience, were so determined
that this is what they needed todo.
When I asked for a show ofhands about how they would go
about doing it, there waseverything from running Facebook
(03:50):
ads to increasing the socialmedia presence, to having a sale
, having multiple discounts hereand there, but there were only
a handful of people who saidthat they would actually reach
out to their old clients,because the reality is that most
business owners think thatgetting new clients through the
door is the fastest way to makemore money, and while I
(04:13):
absolutely know that there are alot of pluses when a new client
shows up and comes into yourbusiness ecosystem, I really
believe that the key to creatinga sustainable business is all
in the understanding of how toretain and re-engage your former
or existing clients.
Why is that?
For a start, retaining orengaging a former client will
(04:36):
cost you way less time and wayless money than bringing in
someone new, and you certainlydon't have to think about
Facebook ads or discounting,which is a massive relief for me
.
But if you've been in businessfor a while, you've probably
also heard about somethingcalled the 80-20 rule.
It's also known as the Paretoprinciple and the 80-20 rule.
(04:56):
We can apply that to lots ofdifferent aspects of business,
but in a nutshell, it assertsthat 80% of all outcomes or
outputs in your business couldbe in your life as well result
from 20% of all causes or inputs.
In other words, prioritisingthe 20%, whether that's getting
new customers, retaining oldcustomers or some other part of
(05:19):
your business will always giveyou the best results.
And more recently, dan Sullivanin his book 10 times is easier
than two times, talks about asimilar concept in my opinion.
He says that instead ofthinking you need to do 10 times
the work to get 10 times thereward, the best way to get a 10
times return in your businessis to first focus on your four
(05:44):
most important time freedoms, sohe identifies those as time,
money, relationships and purpose.
And then, as you embrace theunderstanding that your time is
actually 10 times more valuablethan anything else, you start to
view everything else under thatlens.
So if we tie that back to the80-20 rule, it means that you'll
(06:06):
spend 80% of your time yourmost valuable resource working
to look after the top 20% ofyour clients with a view to
retaining them and increasingthe lifetime value they bring to
your business.
And if you want to think of itin even more simpler terms and
you think of every 100 customersthat you have, your aim is
(06:28):
really just to keep and nurturethe top 20, the best 20
customers that you have, and toactually get rid of the 80
altogether and for most businessowners, getting rid of 80
clients would send a chill downtheir spine.
80% of their revenue chill,absolutely.
But when it comes to businessprofit and when I think of the
80-20 rule, it also means that80% of your profit is likely to
(06:53):
come from 20% of your customers,and certainly when I do the
numbers in my business, that isabsolutely true.
It's that same 20% that keepcoming back for more, and
they're the ones where I makethe maximum profit.
So it's important to identifythat 20% and then maximize the
(07:13):
time that you work with them,and that is an absolutely easy
way to stay on the path toprofit and really to create a
sustainable business.
And if you relate that back toa cost per lead to getting
someone new in your business, itactually makes a lot of sense
because by retaining somebodyyou already have, there's no
outlay on marketing, onadvertising, the time and money
(07:34):
that it takes to do that.
Fewer resources are used to setup and onboard an old client
because they're already in thesystem, they know what it's like
to work with you, they know theexchange they need to make to
get their project going andyou're more likely to complete
the work faster too, because, asthe service provider, you're
going to know exactly what theywant and there'll be less back
(07:56):
and forth asking questions, andso, essentially, you can provide
them with what they need withless corrections required and in
a faster timeframe too.
So it's maximizing your time,your energy and your profit in
the process.
But regardless of whether youchoose to do that or not, simply
looking at the retention ratein your business so the number
(08:18):
of clients that you manage tokeep in your ecosystem and
according to Bain and Co andHarvard Business School,
increasing that by just 5% youcan increase your overall profit
, and they say between 25 and95%.
I guess it depends on the sortof business you have.
So how do you go about it?
The first thing you need toknow is your current retention
(08:42):
rate, so that way you havesomething to aim for, because
there's no point shooting toincrease something by 5% if you
don't know what the startingnumber is, and we're looking for
that starting number.
So how many of the currentcustomers that you have, or how
many of your overall customersdo you manage to retain?
What's the number, what's thepercentage?
And then we're just looking toincrease that rate by 5%.
(09:05):
So if we're talking about 100clients, we're looking to retain
five of them.
Five additional clients.
If we're looking at the 20,we're looking to increase that
by just one customer, and then,in my opinion, the next best
thing to do is to identify yourbest customers.
So it could be your top 20, itmight be your top 30, but look
(09:28):
at those and think about okay,if I'm not retaining them at the
moment, or I could potentiallyget more work out of them, how
am I able to do that?
And while this idea seemspretty straightforward, the
reality can be a little morecomplex, and that's largely
because, just like us, ourcustomers are often guilty of
(09:48):
looking for the shiny next bestthing and they forget all about
us.
I know, if you've beenlistening for a while, you would
have heard me say this before.
It doesn't matter if you'veprovided the most excellent
service and have a testimonialfrom them to prove it, but if
that business over there isdoing something similar or gosh,
that person I follow onInstagram says that this person
(10:09):
over here is really good yourcustomer could be off in a flash
out of your orbit and workingwith someone else before you
even know what's happened.
Naturally, as business ownersand as humans.
If we do a good job for someone, we expect to stay on the top
of their list.
We expect our happy customersto keep coming back to us for
more at some point, whether it'simmediately or some point in
(10:31):
the future, and so human naturesays that we don't tend to chase
them.
We also don't want to be thatannoying person, and I think as
the business of business takesover, then we just forget our
old customers altogether, justtotally forget they exist, and
instead we're on the lookout forthe next new customer.
But, as I've already said,getting that new customer can be
expensive.
(10:51):
So when you put that into thecontext of the 80-20 rule, you
really have to wonder why you'dever bother chasing after
someone new when you've got allthese potential sales, all these
existing clients that mighthave forgotten about you sitting
on the table.
Don't let your customers forgetabout you.
Remind them that you're stillhere, whether you're just
following up about the workyou've just completed or maybe
(11:14):
suggesting another way that youcan work together, creating a
special VIP offer for yourpreferred clients.
Think about what it is that youcan do to keep your customers
coming back for more.
I've just tried this with acouple of my clients who were
absolutely struggling to findwork, and it was pre-Christmas
(11:34):
and we were looking at theFebruary March period and
thinking, okay, january istraditionally quiet, but
February March we've got noinquiries.
Things are looking really dire.
In each case, the clients hadstaff that they had to pay, so
they had that cost liabilitythat they could not negate.
They needed to find the moneyto pay their staff at the very
(11:55):
least, and so that was one ofthe things I suggested Go back,
have a look at your old clientlist, see who you can talk to,
see who might be interested incoming back and working with you
again.
And within two weeks, each ofthose clients had booked out
February and had started takingbookings for March.
So it is possible.
(12:15):
I have absolutely seen theproof.
But the word there, theimportant word, is ask, because
if you want to hold on to the20% of your existing clients,
those people who have been inyour ecosystem, who really love
you, who you get the most valueout of, you have to ask and you
have to keep asking.
(12:36):
And if you want to increaseyour business profits by at
least 25%, so you want to retain5% of additional clients, then
you definitely need to ask sohow do you do that you can reach
out to your clients and letthem know that you're open for
work.
If you don't tell them, how arethey going to know?
Just because you put somethingup on social media to say you've
(12:57):
got two spots left next monthdoesn't mean that they're going
to see it.
But also let them know how youcan help them because, remember,
it's all about them.
It's not about you.
Sure, you might think it's aboutyou because you've got to get
the money in the door, butessentially it's about how you
can help your client.
So suggest one thing that youcan do right now to make their
life more manageable.
(13:18):
If, for example, someone comesback to you and says, yeah, I
can't really afford that rightnow, then give them a head list.
Think about the five top thingsthat you could do for them
right now and say, look, Iunderstand that you might not
need all five, but number oneand two are really going to help
you and so I can offer you thatparticular service at this rate
(13:40):
and that might be more withinyour sort of the budget that
you've got to spend, but justsuggesting that one thing that
can make their life moremanageable right now.
That can take a bit of thatpressure off.
You would be surprised at howmany people will turn around and
say yes Now if you don't havean email list.
I talked about this in lastweek's episode.
(14:01):
If you don't have an email list, create an email list and add
your existing clients, of course, with permission.
Make sure then, once you've gotthem on the list, you nurture
them, that you have that specialemail that you send out to
those key clients, those VIPs,to let them know about the
exclusive offer, the thing thatthey would be more likely to
(14:22):
take over everybody else.
And, as I said in last week'sepisode, don't just reach out
when you're selling and needmore money, but share those tips
and strategies that really canhelp your customer at no cost to
them, because that's a reallyeasy way to stay on their radar
and also keep them as the loyal,engaged clients that they have
(14:43):
been as you go forward.
I think the thing is that yourclients need to be reminded that
you are around, and if you'renot the one who's reminding them
of the great work that you'vedone and what it is that you can
do for them, then, as I said,nobody else is going to tell
them.
And if, for some reason, theycan't use your services right
(15:06):
now, what you can do in sharingthat you are open for work is.
You can ask them to recommendyou.
They can refer you to someoneelse for free, or, if you're
inclined to you, could offerthem a referral fee as an
incentive to refer you tosomeone else.
And if that new client if theperson they've referred signs on
(15:27):
the dotted line comes on boardand takes up one of your
services, you can give them akickback 10%, 20%, totally up to
you, but that is another optiontoo.
And just a final word on askingask your happy clients for
testimonials or Google reviews,because if you don't ask, you
don't get.
And when you do get thosetestimonials, make sure you
(15:47):
store them in one place and thenyou use them in your marketing.
So, as we wrap up today'sepisode, if you want to start
increasing your profits whetherthat's by 25% to 95%, as
suggested by Bain and Co andHarvard Business School, or if
you're just after a couple ofpercent increase right now the
(16:09):
best way to do that is to retainyour existing clients and to
try and increase your retentionrate by at least 5%.
That 5% increase is going tosave you time, money and effort
on onboarding.
And that is the secret rightthere that time, money and
(16:31):
effort that you save.
That's where you're going toget that bump in your profit.
So, as you go forward and you'rethinking, how can I become more
profitable, how can I get moremoney in my business, decide who
are your 20 top clients.
Who are the people that youreally want to work with and it
doesn't just have to be the 20top clients.
(16:51):
Who are the 20% that you wouldbe happy to hold if you were
told that you needed to peerdown your business and you
needed to get rid of 80% ofeveryone you worked with, who
are the 20% that you would hold?
Make sure that 20% are thepeople that you're really
looking after and that arealready in your ecosystem, that
you are regularly working with,and if they're not, reach out to
(17:14):
them and then, when you've gotthat 20% better down, look to
start increasing.
That 5% is going to be an extrabump in profit every single
time.
So I hope today's episode hashelped you and I hope it gives
you some inspiration,particularly if your business is
a little bit flat right now,and until next time, keep living
(17:36):
your definition of success.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Thanks for listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast.
For more information on allthings business, head to
focicomau and make sure you hitsubscribe on the show so you
don't miss another new episode.
If you're enjoying the show,please give it a quick rating or
review, share it on yoursocials or with friends who
might enjoy it.
(18:00):
Catch you next time.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com